More Than Just A Piece of Meat: Carl's Jr. More Than Just A Piece of Meat

Carl's Jr. More Than Just A Piece of Meat

Caption: “This commercial features two woman competing over a piece of burger meat. The meat is suppose to be representative of a man, that two woman are competing over. Multiple women shown competing for a man, is a visual tactic and strategy that advertisers use to appeal to male fantasies.”

Hyper-Sexual images of woman have almost become the norm in today’s media. While there are millions of hyper-sexual images of woman throughout the media, none stand out more to me than Carl’s Jr. advertisements. Carl’s Jr. is notorious for putting out sexist commercials of women that are directly targeted towards male consumers. Carl’s Jr commercials are known for featuring half dressed celebrities and models eating food in a provocative manner. Despite the sexist content of these commercials, they have been proven to be highly successful and effective in selling towards male consumers. I believe this is because of the concept “sex sells”. In order to understand why sexual images are so effective in gaining people’s attention, I looked at the psychology behind why sexual messages are so successful in selling products and services to the public. I believe it all comes down to the reaction and emotions people get when viewing sexual images.

Caption: “This commercial is in response to the public comment Brent Musburger, a sports commentator, made about Katherine Webb’s appearance during a championship game. Carl’s Jr. took this real life situation and turned it into a commercial that lived out the announcers fantasy about Katherine Webb’s beauty and sexuality.”

Sex is a primitive instinct, and from a marketing stand point, sexuality can have a biological, emotional, and physical effect on a viewer. According to psychologytoday.com, researchers found that when viewing sexual images, the brain of both men and woman releases a hormone that acts as a stimulus to excite certain areas of the brain. “Psychologists know that memory is dependent on how deeply it is processed” (psychologytoday.com). “People have to notice the ad, pay attention to it, understand the central message of it and integrate it into their personal knowledge bank and system....the more the advertisement catches your attention and interest the more [the viewer] is likely to devote energy and capacity to processing it and the stronger the memory trace will be...therefore [advertisers] try to elicit emotions and mood states that enhance memory” (psychologytoday.com). Sex is a pleasurable activity that allows the body to release, oxytocin, a “feel good hormone”. When viewers see pleasurable images in the media it is likely to catch their attention and trigger excitement in the brain. This is why sexual images in the media gain such a strong reaction from viewers because it triggers a pleasure point in the brain.

Caption: “Kim Kardashian is the ultimate sex symbol in today’s pop culture. Carl’s Jr. capitalized on her sexuality and tried to use the caption “sometimes its okay to get dirty” as Kim spills food on her breasts and body and then provocatively licks it off before she takes a bubble bath. Carl’s Jr. is known for using celebrities and models in their commercials to live out men’s fantasies.”

Food, sex, and power are three major pleasure points for men. Carl’s Jr. has been able to capitalize on the degradation of women in order to entertain men and satisfy their needs. Carl’s Jr. relies on female sexuality to promote the three things that men love most food, sex, and power. The idea behind these commercials is that a male viewer will feel powerful as they watch a “hot” woman eating a tasty burger. The media often links a woman’s body, sexuality, and identity as all the same thing. However in doing this society associates a woman’s worth with the way that she looks instead of her achievements. “Men and women are said to be opposites and unequal, with specific gendered attributes such as masculine aggression and female-identified passivity” (Caputi, 312). Woman are presented in the media as an object to be watched and enjoyed for male pleasure instead of as equal to men. “Patriarchal definitions of women as property and commodities are behind the sexual objectification of women, along with an ensuing alienation from the human body, with its individual and changeable nature” (Caputi, 315). This is done through the hyper-sexualized images of women, and sexualized gender roles of women in media. I believe the reason Carl’s Jr. has been so successful in using women to sell burgers to men is because women are viewed as a piece of meat for men to enjoy. Carl’s Jr. slogan for all of their commercials is “more than just a piece meat”. Even though the advertiser doesn’t implicitly say that they are referring to women as a piece of meat, it is implied through the imagery used in their commercials. As long as women are viewed as a piece in the eyes of men, woman will always be considered as something to be devoured and enjoyed by men.

Caption: “This commercial features Audrina Patridge, a reality star and sex symbol, laying on the beach in a bikini while eating a burger. The caption in this commercial is “sometimes you have to be a little bit bad” as Audrina explains even though she wants to stay looking slim and “hot” for the summer time she can’t resist eating a Carl’s Jr. burger. The burger is suppose to symbolize a man, and how a women can’t resist being with a man.”

Although hyper sexual images flood the media, there are blurred lines between what is fantasy and reality. “Consumers construct their identities through products.....Different identities are “given” by producers, and these identities are “internalized” or accepted by consumers. By producing as well as consuming cultural texts, individuals gain power in identity formation” (Kibby, 323). People often emulate what they see in the media, and use those images as standards to live up to. Male sexual entitlement has become glamorized in the media, as a standard for men to live up to. Commercials like the ones Carl’s Jr. produces give men the fantasy and sense of entitlement that they can have any woman they desire. These images subconsciously promote the stigma that woman are viewed as sexual figures rather than as human beings that should be respected. The media, “helps to justify and sustain relations of domination and inequality between men and women” (Gill, 255). There will never be the same level of respect between men and woman as long as society tolerates these hyper sexual images of women that are in the media.

Caption: “This commercial is the most offensive to me, as it criticizes women’s bodies. There is so much pressure in the media for women to have the perfect body, and this causes a lot of insecurity for women. This commercial is trying to sell flat bun burgers, however the men in the commercial compare the burger bun to a woman’s butt. The commercial also features a school boy fantasy of a school teacher who turns naughty, and decides to dance on her desk half dressed. The school teacher draws a picture of her “butt” on the chalk board as her students come up and critique her “flat buns.”

Carl’s Jr. commercials are made, produced, filmed, and geared towards men. These commercials give the public a view into what men really think of women. These commercials emulate childhood fantasies of men in regards to the sexuality of women. For example there are Carl’s Jr. commercials that relive teacher, babysitter, librarian, and the girl next door fantasies, which are all childhood fantasies of young boys. I believe as long as men are the one’s producing and running the media industry, sexual images like the ones shown in the Carl’s Jr. commercials will continue to be shown to the public. These images in the media make it hard for society to take a women seriously. No matter what a woman’s achievements or accomplishments are, their values will still be placed on their looks and body image.